Harleys to roar in for Wharf Rat Rally

Motorcyclists seek parking during the 2010 Wharf Rat Rally in Digby. This year’s rally will play host to the Canadian rollout of the 2014 Harley Davidson model line. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff / File)

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DIGBY — This year’s Wharf Rat Rally in Digby will play host to the Canadian rollout of the 2014 Harley-Davidson model line, say event planners.

The large display of new motorcycles will coincide with the 110th anniversary celebrations of Harley-Davidson that got underway this summer in Milwaukee.

The Wharf Rat Rally is a motorcycle gathering in Digby that begins the Wednesday before Labour Day and runs for five days.

Events include music, vendor displays, demonstrations and races.

“Typically, in the past, we’ve had Harley-Davidson dealers here with the current year’s stock,” Glenn Dunn, chairman of the Wharf Rat Rally board of directors, said in a news release.

“This is the first time that next year’s models will be available for people to see and ride.”

The Canadian unveiling will take place the same weekend the 2014 Harley-Davidsons will be presented to a drooling U.S. audience at an event in Milwaukee, Wis.

“We’re very excited about it,” Dunn said.

“It’s a real feather in our hat.”

Harley-Davidson evidently wouldn’t have it any other way, he said in an interview.

“They recognize the impact that the rally has and the numbers (of bikers) that attend,” Dunn said.

“It shows their confidence in the rally.

“They’re looking at numbers and the people are here.”

More than 40,000 people have visited Digby during recent Wharf Rat rallies, he said.

Digby’s downtown experiences a turnover of new people three or four times a day during the rally.

This year, the Harley-Davidson display will encompass the entire downtown Digby promenade area during the motorcycle extravaganza.

Organizers said in the news release that they’ve determined that almost one-quarter of the 2011 Wharf Rat Rally visitors were from outside Nova Scotia and stayed an average of 3.1 days in the province.

They also said each visitor spent at least $151 per day, with people from outside Atlantic Canada spending an average of $242 per day.

Estimates from counters used at Exit 26 on Highway 101 suggested that nearly 25,000 motorcycles visited Digby over the five days in 2012.

Last year’s rally resulted in about $8.9 million in economic benefits to the entire province, Dunn said.